Update: Oct. 6, 2021: Park officials announced today that the dog involved in a thermal burning incident yesterday at Yellowstone National Park (YNP) has unfortunately passed away.
The dog’s owner suffered thermal burns when she entered a hot spring named Maiden’s Grave Spring to rescue her dog. The temperature of Maiden’s Grave Spring is 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Since the woman was transported outside of YNP for care, the park does not have information to share about her status.
MAMMOTH, Wyo. — A 20-year-old woman from Washington suffered significant thermal burns between her shoulders and feet on the afternoon of Oct. 4, in the vicinity of Fountain Flat Drive south of Madison Junction, announced Yellowstone National Park today, Oct. 5.
According to the announcement, when the woman and her father exited their vehicle to look around, their dog jumped out of the car and into Maiden’s Grave Spring near the Firehole River. The woman entered the thermal hot spring to retrieve the dog. The father pulled her out of the feature and then drove the party to West Yellowstone, Montana.
Yellowstone National Park rangers and Hebgen Basin Rural Fire District provided initial care to the woman at West Yellowstone. She was then transported to the Burn Center at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.
The dog was removed from the feature and the father intended to take it to a veterinarian. Its status is unknown currently.
This incident is under investigation and the park has no additional information to share.
According to the park, the ground in hydrothermal areas is fragile and thin, and there is scalding water just below the surface. Everyone must remain on boardwalks and trails and exercise extreme caution around thermal features. Learn more about safety in thermal areas here.
The park is reminding visitors to protect their pets by physically controlling them at all times. Pets must be in a car, crate or on a leash no more than six feet long. They are not allowed on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry, or in thermal areas.
This is the second significant injury in a thermal area in 2021. The first occurred in September at Old Faithful. A 19-year-old female concessions employee from Rhode Island sustained second and third-degree burns to 5% of her body.
In 2020, a three-year-old suffered second-degree-thermal burns to the lower body and back and a visitor (who illegally entered the park) fell into a thermal feature at Old Faithful while backing up and taking photos.
In Sept 2019, a man suffered severe burns after falling into thermal water near the cone of Old Faithful Geyser.
In June 2017, a man sustained severe burns after falling in a hot spring in the Lower Geyser Basin. In June 2016, a man left the boardwalk and died after slipping into a hot spring in Norris Geyser Basin.
In Aug. 2000, one person died and two people received severe burns from falling into a hot spring in the Lower Geyser Basin.
